Always & Forever
by vynessahzylanderx3
Summary: Full summary inside! Joe and his best friend Callie are in love with each other, but are afraid to say anything because they don't want to ruin their friendship. At a party, something happens that will cost them everything- except each other. JoeCallie.
1. Introduction

**Always and Forever  
**_A Joe Jonas Story_

Summary: Joe and Callie have been best friends since kindergarten. He loves her, and she loves him. But they're afraid to tell each other because neither of them wants to ruin their friendship. When they attend a party one night with their friends, one thing leads to another and something happens that will cost them everything- except each other.

Introduction:

Joe Jonas sighed as he stared at his best friend. She was all but beautiful to everyone else in her shaggy, dirty old work clothes, but to him, she was the most beautiful creature on the face of the planet, no matter what she was wearing. She glanced up from the pen where she'd been giving one of the dogs their food and caught his eye. She smiled, her eyes sparkling as she did so.

"Hey, Joe," she greeted him, setting the bag of food down on the floor and resting her elbows on the counter. She put her chin in her hands and smiled again. "You're early. I told you had to work an extra hour today."

"Uh, yeah, I remember you telling me that," he said. "I just thought I'd come help you a bit. You do take volunteers here, right?"

She smiled. He was so thoughtful. "Yeah, sure," she said, handing him a small baby bottle filled with milk. "See that pen over there?" she asked, pointing to the corner. Inside the pen were a small Yorkie-Malt mix and three tiny puppies. "That's Duchess and her puppies. She's been having a tough time feeding them since… you know, she was sick when she was brought in. We use the dropper to feed the puppies for her. She needs more nursing herself before she can nurse her young. Do you think you could handle feeding them?"

Joe smiled at her. She was the most kind-hearted and caring person he knew. She worked for her mother's animal rescue shelter, A Helping Paw. She aspired to be just like her mother, and to follow in her footsteps. She wanted to eventually own the shelter, and maybe even become a real vet one day. She really cared about the wellbeing of the animals, and she fell in love with each one that passed through her hands. She especially had a soft spot in her heart for Duchess and the puppies, and she knew she would have to say goodbye soon, when they'd find a happy home. That was the reason she tried to avoid spending all of her time with them, why she'd offered the opportunity to him.

He took the bottle and walked over to the pen. "Of course I can, they don't call me Joe Jonas for nothing."

She laughed and turned to look at him, resting her hand on her hip. "And what does that have to do with taking care of Duchess and her puppies?" she asked.

He winked at her. "I don't know… yet. But I will figure it out someday, when I'm a big star."

She laughed again. "Well, Superstar, get to work. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can leave."

He turned and opened the pen, where the three puppies stumbled over each other to get the first drink. He smiled at them. They knew he was going to feed them, before he even held the bottle up. He quickly grabbed one of them and held it gently in the crook of his arm. It squirmed for a moment, its small black and white paws pawing at his arm and its tiny pink nose pointing up towards him. Its adorable eyes were full of hope, and he pried the nipple of the bottle into the puppy's mouth. It quickly began to suck the milk from the bottle, and he smiled. "Just like a baby," he whispered, running his thumb along the soft fuzz of the puppy's ear.

Half an hour later, Callie came up behind Joe, who was still admiring the puppies, and said, "Joe, we can go home now, I'm all done for the day."

"Cal, these puppies… has anyone called about them?" Joe asked, looking over at her.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, are they available for adoption?"

She nodded. "Yeah, no one's asked about them yet," she replied. "Why?"

"Because I know one special girl who would love to get them as a present, if I'm allowed to take them."

Callie's heart caught in her throat, and she tried to keep calm. He wanted to give them to another girl. This was a double disappointment for her- another girl, the luckiest girl on the planet, had stolen his heart and she'd lose the puppies in the process. The two loves in her life would be gone. She nodded, trying not to cry. "How thoughtful of you," she said quietly. "I'll get their papers."

Joe filled out the papers, and Callie tried to take them. "I have to file these real quick. Then we can go."

But he held the papers back. "I need to give them to your mother," he said.

She shook her head. "No, I can take care of it," she argued.

"I'd rather give them to your mother," he pleaded.

"Fine. You know what? Just, uh… just go home. I'm going to stay here for awhile until my mom gets back from the doctor. I think she wants me to go grocery shopping with her."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding. "All right, Cal, see you later," he said. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting weird all of a sudden? And at that moment, it hit him. She thought he'd found a girlfriend. Little did she know, that wasn't the case. That wasn't the case at all.

Shall I continue? NICE reviews are lovely, my friends!


	2. Happy Birthday!

As much as I hate to have to say this, I figure that if I want reviews, I have to. Until I get at least 10 reviews for this story, I won't be updating again. Thank you to the one person who did review and to those who added it to their favorites list/ alert list. I'm glad you like it! In this chapter, Joe doesn't come in until the late-middle or early-end. But read the whole thing or you'll be confused, even though it is kind of a filler chapter- I know, I know, you're all wondering how the first chapter can be a filler, but I guess it just turned out like that. I wrote it this way so the story won't seem rushed at all.

Chapter One: Happy Birthday!

Callie sat with her chin in her hands while she waited for her mother to come back from the doctor. It had been fifteen minutes since she'd spoken to Joe. Fifteen minutes since she'd gotten her heart broken. A tear slid down her cheek as she glanced over at Duchess and the puppies. She sighed and walked over towards them. She opened the pen and reached her hand in. One of the puppies crawled into her hand and snuggled up into a ball, looking up at her expectantly. "Oh, puppy," she whispered, running her finger along its back. "I'm going to miss you. Promise you won't forget me," she added, tears falling freely from her eyes now. The puppy squirmed, and she brought it closer to her. Its tiny pink tongue slipped out and lapped away her tears. Of course, that only made her cry harder.

Just then, she heard her mother's voice coming from the back room. "Callie, dear, are you still here?" Laura Blakemore called.

Callie slid the puppy back into the pen and locked it. She wiped away her remaining tears and tried to smile. "Yeah, Mom, I'm still here," she replied. "I'm with Duchess and the puppies." She didn't want her mother to know how she was crying, or she would make her quit working at the shelter. She'd warned her not to get too close to the animals, and now Callie understood why.

"Callie, you're spending way too much time with those dogs. I know you love them, but they're going to have to be adopted out soon. Remember?"

"There's no need to worry about that," Callie said grumpily. "They've already been claimed."

"Oh? By who?" her mother asked gently.

"Joseph," Callie replied simply. She hardly ever called Joe Joseph, only when she was upset with him, and her mother knew this.

"Are you angry with him?" Laura pressed.

"No…I don't know. He wants to give them to some girl as a gift or something."

"Well, Callie, you can't be upset with him over that. You don't want to ruin your friendship. You've been friends too long to let that be a barrier between you two."

"But, Mom, he knows how much I love them! Why would he do this to me?" Callie exclaimed, her face red with anger and embarrassment as she spoke.

"Baby, maybe he's doing it for your own good. He knows how attached you get to the animals, maybe he's just trying to get them a good home before we become too attached."

That was it. Callie didn't care if her mother made her quit. She began to cry. "It's too late for that, Mom. I love them! And more importantly, I love _him_. And now they're both out of my grasp. I hate being me. I hate it!" she cried. She ran out to her mother's car, slammed the door after she got in, and continued to cry.

Laura sighed and stared after her daughter. She wasn't sure she should go after her, but then again, she didn't want Callie to feel alone and upset. She started to follow her, but the front door to the shelter opened, and Joe walked in.

"Hello, Mrs. Blakemore," Joe greeted her. He looked around. "Where's Callie?"

Laura sighed again, deciding that she shouldn't tell Joe about Callie's broken heart. "She's waiting for me in the car. Did you need to see her?"

"Um, no, actually, Mrs. Blakemore, I needed to see you. And I was hoping that Callie wouldn't be here so I could do this." He took the papers from his pocket and unfolded them. "Sorry they're wrinkled, but I didn't want Callie to see them, and that's the only way I could keep them from her.

Laura laughed. "Yeah, she sure is a pushy little thing," she agreed. She took the papers and glanced at them. Her eyes widened, and she smiled. "Follow me, I'll get them ready for you," she said. "But hurry. Callie could come back in at any moment."

* * *

Early the next morning, Callie's alarm clock went off. She groaned and rolled over to stare at it. 8:00am. That's when she realized that it was Saturday.

"Mom, why is my alarm clock going off on Saturday?" she yelled through the wall. She knew her mother would be awake already, since she worked out every morning at 6:00am.

She looked around her room, and her gaze fell on her calendar. There, in bright, rainbow-colored letters, she'd written, **my 17****th**** birthday! **She gasped. Today was her birthday! She'd totally forgotten about it. She jumped up, threw on her favorite outfit, and ran downstairs.

Her family was waiting for her at the kitchen table, where her favorite breakfast food sat out in a beautiful display.

"Happy Birthday, Callie!" her mother exclaimed, followed closely afterwards by her father and her older brothers Nate and Zack, who were 20-year-old twins. They were home from college! She ran over and gave them both hugs. "You guys came home for my birthday?" she squealed excitedly.

"Of course we did, silly," Nate replied. "We wouldn't miss our baby sister turning 17 for anything."

"Yeah," Zack added. "We wouldn't dare."

Callie punched Zack playfully in the shoulder before sitting down. She piled her plate with pancakes, bacon and mixed fruit. "Mom, you made my favorite breakfast," she said.

"Yes, well, I had to miss my morning workout to run to the store," Laura explained. "I wanted to make this birthday extra-special."

"Hurry up and eat, Callie. Your presents are waiting to be opened. Can't you hear them calling you? 'Callie, open me first! No, open _me_ first!'" her father teased, pretending to be various overly-eager birthday presents.

"Oh, Daddy. Stop it. I'm starving. I missed dinner last night if you didn't remember," she reminded him. She'd been so upset about Joe and the puppies that she'd lost her appetite for the evening. She hadn't even wanted dessert.

"George, let her eat," Laura said gently, giving him a look.

"All right," he agreed. "Just don't take too long."

After breakfast was over and the kitchen had been cleaned, Callie was ready to open her presents. Of course, she though getting gifts after turning 16 was strange, but she wasn't going to complain. She followed her family into the den, when a large, colorful pile of presents sat before the fireplace.

"Oh my gosh, it's like, Christmas or something!" she exclaimed. "What's all this?"

"Presents," Nate started. "Three from Mom and Dad, one from me, one from Zack, one from Grandma and Grandpa Blakemore, and one from Nana and Papa Evans. And I think some from your friends."

Just then, three girls popped out from behind the couch. "Surprise! Happy birthday, Callie!" they exclaimed.

"Ashley! Hannah! Jazzy!" Callie exclaimed. "How'd you guys get here without me noticing?" she asked suspiciously after a few minutes of eardrum-breaking screaming. The three girls standing before her- Ashley Sawyer, Hannah Stevens, and Jasmine Parker- had all moved away together to attend some prestigious academy in New York the previous year, and Callie hadn't seen them since.

"Your mom picked us up yesterday while you were at work and took us to your brothers' apartment," Ashley explained. Callie stared at her. "You know, her 'doctor appointment'?" Ashley continued. "She was picking us up from the airport."

"Mom, thank you so much!" Callie exclaimed, hugging her mother.

"You're welcome, dear. Now open your gifts," Laura said calmly.

Callie sat with her friends in a circle on the floor, much like they'd done many times when they were younger. She picked up the top present, a rather small package from her parents. She ripped off the paper, revealing a tiny white jewelry box. She lifted the lid carefully, and inside, resting on a soft bed of snow-white cotton, lay a ring. Not just _a_ ring- it was _the_ ring- the one she'd been wanting ever since she'd first lay eyes on it. She knew it had been expensive- 800 dollars in fact- and she started to cry. "Mom, Dad, thank you so much! It's beautiful! But…how'd you know I wanted this one? The only person I showed it to was Aunt Carrie."

Her mother smiled. "I have my ways, dear, I have my ways."

Callie slipped the ring on her finger and admired the diamond in it. "It sure is beautiful…" she whispered, staring at it.

"Hey, Cal, open the rest of your presents. Zack and I have to go meet someone in a few minutes," Nate said. "And we're not about to miss the rest of the gifts."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but she smiled as she did so. "All right, all right, I'm getting there," she said. She grabbed the next present from the pile. "This one's from Ashley," she said. She opened it, careful not to ruin the beautiful bow her friend had placed on it. Inside was a scrapbook. She looked through it thoughtfully, smiling as she saw pictures of her and her friends, including Joe and his brothers, Nick and Kevin, from when they were younger. "Ashley, this is beautiful. Did you make it?"

Ashley smiled. "Yep, with the help of my art teacher, Miss Brown."

"Thank you," Callie said, giving her a hug. "And tell Miss Brown the same."

"I will," Ashley promised.

The next package was from Hannah. Inside, Callie found a t-shirt that Hannah had had made, one with a beautiful array of air brushed color. The front had Callie's name on it, and the back had the name of her favorite celebrity, Vanessa Hudgens and the date August 8th, 2008 on it. "Hannah, this is great, but…what does the back of the shirt have to do with me?"

"Look under the shirt, silly!" Hannah exclaimed. Callie looked down into the box, and there lay four concert tickets.

"Hannah, you got front and center seats to see Vanessa Hudgens?!" Callie exclaimed.

"Yep," Hannah said proudly. "And I got the four of us matching shirts for when we go."

"Hannah Grace Stevens I officially love you!" Callie squealed excitedly. "I can't believe it!"

"Well, believe it, sister! I waited in line for five hours for those tickets," Hannah explained.

"Callie, presents…" Zack urged. "Hurry up."

"Would you two cut it out?" Callie snapped. "I'm getting to them." She picked up the present from Jazzy and unwrapped it. Inside, she found a Coach purse.

"It matches mine," Jazzy said, showing Callie her bag.

"Cool! Thanks, Jazzy!" Callie said. "I needed a new bag."

Callie continued to open her presents. From Nate, she received a gift card to her favorite mall, which was tied to a cute little teddy bear. "I thought you'd like the bear, so I added a gift card to make it an even 210 dollars," Nate explained.

"You mean this gift card is worth 200 dollars?!" Callie squealed. She leapt up and wrapped her arms around her brother's neck.

"Ew, Cal, don't hug me," Nate said.

From Zack, Callie received another gift card to the mall, also for 200 dollars. "Sorry I didn't get you a fancy bear, Cal," he said, glaring at his brother. "I thought we were giving you matching presents."

Callie hugged him anyway. "That's all right, Zack. It means just as much, because it's from you."

She opened the gifts from her grandparents next. She got 50 dollars from Grandpa and Grandma Blakemore, along with a new journal and some new earrings. Nana and Papa Evans had gotten her the new Gossip Girl book, even though they disapproved of it, a new Hollister bag, and a beautiful pink dress they hoped she would wear to Prom.

Her last two presents were flat packages, both from her parents. Inside of one, she found a picture of a bedroom, one that she'd admired in her favorite magazine many times before. She looked up expectantly at her parents. "What's this?"

"Callie, you're moving to the basement," her dad said.

"What?" Callie exclaimed. "The basement's disgusting!"

"Not anymore," her mother said. "We've re-decorated the whole basement. And the bedroom that Zack and Nate used to stay in while they were home has been designed just like that picture for you."

"Mom! You guys spend way too much money on me!" she chastised. Even though they were one of the richer families in their neighborhood, she still couldn't believe that they'd spend this much on her.

"Ha! Wait until you open the last one," Nate prompted her. "Then you can really yell at them."

"What is it?" she asked questioningly. She stared at her father.

"You'll have to open it and see," he replied.

She sighed and ripped open the last package. On the top was a box from the Apple Store. Callie squealed. "An iPhone?!" she cried excitedly.

"Keep going…" her mother prompted.

Underneath the phone, she found a set of car keys. She pulled them out, and her eye caught the small Audi logo on the keychain. "We don't have an Audi," she said absentmindedly.

"_We _don't, but _you_ do," her dad said with a big, goofy smile on his face. "Now you can get rid of that ugly pink thing out in the driveway."

"Daddy! Are you kidding me?" Callie jumped up and ran to the window, where she looked out and found a brand new satin black Audi A8 sitting in the driveway. "Daddy!" she said again. "Is it really mine?"

"She's all yours," he assured her. "You deserve it if you're going to be driving down to USC next fall."

"I fucking love you!" Callie squealed. "Can I take it out for a spin?"

"Like I said, she's all yours. Just don't trash it or it's going to be mine, got it?"

Callie nodded solemnly and then looked over at her friends. "Want to go for a ride in my new car?" she asked, her voice squeaking a bit with excitement. The girls nodded, and the four of them headed outside.

"While the girls are gone, Zack and I will go pick up that 'special delivery'," Nate whispered to Laura. She nodded, and as soon as the Audi had turned the corner, the two brothers headed out.

Unfortunately for them, Callie had seen their car driving the opposite way down the street as she drove. "Where are my brothers going?" she asked, turning to Ashley, and then to Hannah and Jazzy, who were sitting in the backseat.

The three girls shrugged. "Not a clue," they replied in unison.

Callie's brow furrowed with curiosity. She wasn't stupid. She knew they'd rehearsed saying that. She just couldn't figure out why they weren't telling her what they knew. She sighed. _I'm not going to let it ruin my day_, she thought to herself.

Then another thought hit her. Joe. The _lack of_ Joe is more like it. He hadn't come over for the mini-party, he hadn't even called like he usually did on her birthday. As she stopped at a red light, she wondered if he didn't want to see her today. She'd been pretty rude to him last night. Maybe she'd ruined their friendship. Maybe he really had found someone else…

* * *

Later that evening, after her friends had gone back to start packing for the "move" from their current residence to the basement/bedroom, Callie sat alone in the living room, admiring her ring. Joe still hadn't called or anything, but she tried to push any thoughts of him from her mind. She didn't want him to ruin her birthday.

Just then, the doorbell rang. She glanced over at the clock. Eight-thirty-two pm. There was not a soul on this earth that would dare come to door that late in the evening. Except…maybe…her heart started racing and she jumped up to look out the window. There, standing on the porch, was none other than Joe Jonas himself. He was holding a gigantic box, struggling to hold it close to his chest so as not to drop it. She let out a happy sigh and opened the door.

Joe stumbled in with the box, out of breath. But after a few moments, he gently sat the box down on the floor and embraced Callie in one of his famous bear hugs. "Happy Birthday, Callie," he whispered into her hair as they hugged.

She pulled away, a small pout forming on her beautiful face. "You didn't call me this morning like you usually do on my birthday," she said.

"No, and it's because of your present," he replied, grinning. "But I really am sorry I didn't call."

She smiled. "It's okay, I guess. Want some cake? We have tons of extra cake left over."

"Well, I do, but you have to open your present first. It needs opened right away."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. Why right away? Her eyes darted to the box, and she smiled. "Well, sure, we can do that first," she said.

Joe picked up the box and carried it down to her new bedroom. "You should open it down here."

She gave him a quizzical smile and sat down next to it. "What in the world is this?" she asked.

"Open it, you'll see," he replied.

She shrugged and carefully untied the ribbon he'd wrapped around it. The lid of the box had tiny holes in it, as if for breathing. She gasped. Could it be…? She lifted the lid and looked down into it. "Oh my gosh, Joe!" she gasped. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you thank you thank you so much! I love you," she exclaimed. She reached into the box and pulled out one of the four small animals that were snuggled up inside. "Hello, Duchess," she cooed. The small dog stretched out and licked the end of her nose.

Joe was standing nearby, blushing. Callie had just said the three words he'd longed to hear from her. _I love you_. He glanced down to see her beaming at him.

"Joseph Adam Jonas, you have officially made this the best, happiest, most special birthday in the history of birthdays," she exclaimed.

Joe smiled. "I'm glad I could help," he replied smugly. "Now how about that cake?"

* * *

Eh, I'm not so happy with the way this chapter turned out. I think there was too much background info, and I guess her presents were maybe a bit too unrealistic for a seventeen year old's birthday, even though they are a rich family. But it was supposed to be that way, I guess. Up next, Joe and Callie attend the party that will change their lives…remember, ten reviews and I'll start working on the next chapter!


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